phrag incan treasure

[cmu]

(longifolium x kovachii)

I got this plant in trade last year. I knew nothing about phrag hybrids or that much about slippers in general, but could see that it was very big! In the meantime, it has gotten huge and has it's first flower open and another bud opening (looks like two more buds coming). I had read that kovachii and hybrids like to have wet feet so I put it in a small ebb flow tub where it gets watered three or four times a day, roots are growing out of the bottom of the pot. The flower spike literally rocketed up in a month. I've had the heat on in my room to keep the first bud developing, but now that it's getting colder outside and a few buds are open the heat is going back down. Hopefully the buds won't blast or deform or anything like that; maybe they'll stay a little smaller and the color will be a little darker.

The flowers in these pics are actually a bit more blueish-pink in person; often the colors in my photo program end up looking much darker in a web browser than when I'm editing them. The petals are a hair over 7" wide, the flower stands at 5" and the lip is 3.75" measuring down from where the pouch is attached behind the staminode











I wish all of my orchids were as vigorous as this plant! I can see it filling a bushel-basket in no time!

by the way, since longifolium is a parent, is it likely that the petals will keep on growing for a little while?

charles